Professional Photography and the "Slow Season" - NOT!

© tinyakov

It's the start of a new year and for many of you the beginning of the "slow season." However, that doesn't mean it should be slow for you. There's no question we all deserve a short break after the wonderful chaos December always brings, just don't get too comfortable. 

What you do to fine-tune your business during the first quarter of the new year sets the stage for the rest of 2019. So, consider this a Marketing Monday post on a Wednesday with a few classic things for you to think about. In fact, just read the post and consider my suggestions - enjoy the rest of the week relaxing and cleaning up those loose ends from the holidays but consider those areas of low-hanging fruit easiest to start on next Monday.

Let's look at your website:

• Load Time: Too many of you never check your site on other browsers. Based on a quick Google search - In 2018 Chrome was the most popular, followed by Explorer, Safari and Firefox.  Check your website on each of them once a week, but also check your site a couple of times a day.
• Navigation: Is your site easy to navigate or are you sending visitors on a quest of frustration? 
• Your Galleries: It should be your first tab - hook people on your images first!
• Your Images: Don't overload visitors with mediocre photographs. ONLY share images that are "wow" prints, defined as a photograph so good you'd only have to show one to get hired.
• About Page: It should be your second tab. Nobody cares about what gear or awards you've won, unless it's a Pulitzer. Your target audience wants to know if you can be trusted to capture the kind of images they want. They want to know why you love being a photographer.
• A Marketing Video: All of you have the ability to create a short video combining your best images of 2018, a few short video clips, great music and even a brief narrative of you directly. Don't miss the opportunity to bring video storytelling to your website by telling your own story! And, keep the video under 2-3 minutes.
• Information: share the basics. So many of you load in policies and information your audience doesn't need until they're signing a contract. Be upbeat and give them tips on what makes you their best choice.
• Contact: There's no such thing as too much information. Give them multiple ways to contact you including a phone number and email address. Email response forms are only as good as how quickly you respond! 

There you have it - Eight ideas to think about over the next few days, and I'm betting all of you have a few things on the list to fine-tune and help you raise the bar on your website in the new year!

And remember, "procrastination" is not a skill set!